Any ideas? My son, who is normally pretty easy going, has now become possessed. He woke from a nap screaming and wouldn't calm down even with a sippy cup and me rocking him. I even took him outside, which helped for a while, but then he was whiny and crying again. I gave him some Tylenol in case it's teething, but he was basically fussy the whole night. I put him to bed at his normal time with his normal routine, and he went crazy again. He got himself so worked up, there was no way he was going to sleep. This also isn't normal. He might fuss for 5 minutes, but never cries or screams and then sleeps for 10-12 hours. So, after about 30 minutes of me going in, calming him with back rubs, and talking to him, and returning, I took him out into the living room and rocked him for a while. After an hour, I warmed him some milk and tried the bedtime routine again. This time it worked without any fussing.
So, after all of that, I am wondering if anyone has a clue. Can this be the molars coming in or just a characteristic of this age? He got his first tooth at 4.5 months, so I am expecting he may get his molars early too and his gums are all white.
It's a good possibility that it's his molars. My youngest son was the same way. Both of my boys teethed early, but my youngest had the trouble associated with it. This particular episode lasted a week and he was about the same age as your little guy. He slept longer than normal and cried anytime he was awake, not normal for him at all. He got all four molars at once. Poor little guy was so miserable. He's never chewed on chew toys or a pacifier, so I couldn't offer him that. But baby oragel (sp?) did help for brief moments of time. I almost went crazy myself with the constant crying and feeling so sorry for him. He bounced back quickly after though. Oh, one more thing -I also noticed that because of the constant and severe crying, he gulped a lot of air, and that produced extra gas in his belly. So I could tell he had a belly ache at the same time. I gave him an infant gas reliever recommended by my midwife, but can't recall the name and don't have it anymore. But your pediatrician could recommend something to help him or your pharmacist, if he has the same troubles.
If you don't see his teeth under the gumline soon (the actual bumps), and his behavior continues, I'd recommend a visit with your pediatrcian, just in case it's not his teeth bothering him. Anytime they cry like that, it's an indicator that something hurts.
Good luck with your little guy and I wish the best for you. Let us know how he's doing.
My 10 mth old is doing the exact same thing and he is cutting his two front and bottom all together at once. He only does when he's hurting. He just walks around alternately crying and screaming and nothing helps. I'll be glad when they are in! I give him baby motrin, it seems to help quicker and I've noticed sometimes he just needs to let off some steam and if I just let him cry and try to ignore it (it's not easy)he eventually calms himself down. Hope it passes soon for him (and you too)
Do you think he has an earache? The one time my son was like that it was an ear infection, but he was running a little bit of a fever, sometimes though they can have them without a fever, and laying done or sucking on a bottle makes it feel worse. Might want to have them checked.
Thanks for the suggestions. I thought about earache, but he just got over one and was on antibiotics until just recently. I spoke to my neighbor, who has a baby 5 months older and she said that the molars coming in can hurt his ears and that her son went through the same thing. He was pretty happy today, but his nap was short, so I have him down for another. He usually only takes one long one.
I think the tummy med that you were speaking of is Gripe Water. We have some, so I'll give him some tonight. It's supposed to calm him too, so it can't hurt. He lived on that stuff for his first 3 months and I think he sleeps better because of it.
It's probably his molars. My (now 19 mos) son had all 4 his molars come in at the same time as well. I tried something different though. They make a Q-Tip with baby orajel benzocaine. It comes in a small to-go packet in the stores. You break the end, watch the med go down to the other end and dab it on their gum. It relieves it some and they can eat/drink. It's a hard time to go through, but you'll both get through it. Also, try letting him chew on ice. Ice melts, but it's cold. It'll help numb it. I have 2 boys. One is 5 yrs old and one 19 mos old. Also, you can try Hylands all natural teething tablets. You can give them to the toddler and they can chew them up. They dissolve in the mouth. No sugars or anything. They won't choke on them b/c they dissolve quickly. They can take 2-3 at a time too and it won't hurt them. Just some suggestions. Hope it helps. (I'm a 38 yr old mom by the way.)
It could be teething or an ear infection. I know there have been a few times when my son was about his age (he is now 32 months) he would go through periods like that. I would call the doctor and they would always ask the same thing is he running a fever or pulling at his ears he never was but I would take him in anyways and two of the times I took him he did have an ear infection but never pulled at his ears or had a fever. One of the times he had gotten a sinus infection. So you may want to take him to the pediatrician just to have them check and make sure nothing more serious is going on.
Also since he is over six months he can have motrin which is a much better pain reliever then tylenol and lasts for about eight hours. Just a suggestion. I hope he gets better soon.
Thanks again! I have the teething tablets and he gets them regularly. I asked the pharmacist about them and he said they were safe because the ingredients in them are in such small amounts. He does usually take to those well.
As for now, I decided that maybe he was sleeping too much during the day and I took him out this afternoon so that we didn't have an afternoon nap. He slept for 2.5 hours earlier, so I thought this would help. He was fussy, but not too bad, and went straight to bed at 8. No struggles. He cried and screamed the day before until 10! I would go in, calm him down, rub his back, and the minute I'd leave, he would scream again. I tried Motrin, teething tablets, warm milk, everything I could think of and nothing, so maybe I'm onto something.
As for his molars, I don't see anything yet, so I'll keep watching the ears.
Hi! A friend was just telling me a story about a woman going on to super nanny with the same problem. She was told her child was doing it because he had heard another child do it. He became so excited and did not know how else to express himself and so he just started screaming. Maybe he is just trying so hard to communicate and that is the only way he knows how. The health nurse also told me that at 12 months they start to dream. He could have had a scary dream or just does not know how to express it. Good luck!
I was thinking night terrors too since you mentioned doing this from waking up. Also, just having the ear infection might warrant a trip to the pediatrician to be sure the infection is all gone. Depending on the antibiotics and the infection, it might have held it off but not gotten rid of it. It's worth a check, especially if his teeth are coming in. Everything will be more tender and the pain can radiate to his ears. On top of a recurring ear infection??? that could be awful. Good luck and I hope he feels better.
A few things came to my mind based on our 19mo. old and his sudden cries. He also is much like you describe your son with a little fussing, but basically calm and happy.
1. Ear infection. They can creep up without any warning and be so painful for the little ones...especially when lying down
2. A common developmental phase begins just after a year old until about 15 months where the child realizes that he "falls asleep" and the world sort of disappears on them. It can be frightening and cause super anxiety at sleeping times...also upon waking up. There is also an increased dream activity that can make it scary for children this age to let themselves fall asleep.
If it continues, I'd go to your pedi and rule out ear infection.
Sounds like you're doing a great job and reassuring him of your love and his safety, which is a very good thing to do! Hope it gets better soon...for everyone's sake!
Well, he started doing better right away and then he caught a cold. Poor guy. He doesn't scream like he did that day. I guess it just scared me because he never did it before. Thanks for everyone's tips. I especially like knowing about the developmental things. I didn't know about the dreaming starting at 12 months. Thanks again.
He started going nuts again yesterday and started tugging on his ear, so off to the doc we went to find out that he is teething on his molars. No ear infection. I also showed the doc the teething tablets that I have and he said that the ingredients are so minute that he's surprised they do anything at all, but if they work, then so be it. Otherwise, he suggested Tylenol or Motrin with Motrin being longer-lasting. So, with all of the mommy experiences that you guys gave me, I was already doing that and we just got peace of mind knowing that he doesn't have an ear infection. Thanks again.
